Steve Eck has analyzed and scrutinized the sport of basketball for as long as he can remember.

Wednesday

Mar 18, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 18, 2009 at 6:00 PM

When he was a 7- and 8-year-old growing up in Haven, Eck would trail along with his brother Les to watch the older kids play basketball on the school playground.

He would sit, watch, analyze and then offer suggestions to his older brother as they walked home.

"I'd say, 'You need to do this, you need to do that,' " Eck said Wednesday after being introduced as the men's basketball coach at Hutchinson Community College. "He'd look down and say, 'Yeah, yeah, leave me alone.' "

Steve Eck didn't leave the sport alone. He has been in love with basketball ever since those days in Haven and fascinated with it ever since his dad took him to the NJCAA Tournament at the Sports Arena in the 1960s.

Oh, and about that one night as a youngster when Eck decided to spend the night in the Sports Arena during the week of the NJCAA Tournament. Of course, no one knew he was spending the night - the security people, the custodians, his parents, no one.

"My mom thought I was staying with friends," Eck said. "But, I was up in those yellow seats, spent the night and when the 10 o'clock game was set to start the next day, I was there to watch it."

No doubt about it, basketball is Steve Eck's life and was long before he started coaching in 1978 at Wichita's Jardine Junior High, which was followed by stops at Wichita South High School and community college jobs at Butler County, Redlands, Okla., and Cowley.

And now, Eck is in charge of arguably the most high-profile junior college basketball program in Kansas. It hasn't been the most successful, but it certainly has more resources than any other in this state.

The Blue Dragons are counting on Eck to lead them back to the top of Region 6 and to start filling the Sports Arena once again, and not just for the national tournament.

A self-admitted perfectionist to a fault, Eck has won everywhere he's been, whether it be at the junior high, high school or college level. He's built programs from the ground up and resurrected others. Now he's been hired to put Hutchinson back where Blue Dragons believe they belong - at the top of the Region 6 ladder.

"His achievements speak for themselves," said athletic director Randy Stange, who coached against Eck when he was at Hutchinson and Eck was at Butler County.

When the previous coach was announced, one of the first things he guaranteed was a Region 6 championship.

One of the first things Eck guaranteed Wednesday had nothing to do with wins or losses.

"I don't want anyone ever to leave the arena saying they didn't play hard," Eck said. "And, if that does happen, trust me, that will already be taken care of in the locker room.

"We will compete on the court. If we don't, I will find someone on the bench who will. My teams will be prepared."

How well prepared? Well, if the players at Hutchinson are as prepared as their coach has been over the years, Blue Dragon fans can expect a complete effort from their basketball team.

And if he doesn't get it, Steve Eck will find the players to get it done.

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